by C. M. Steele
“Shit. Excuse me.” She hurries back into the bedroom to finish putting on her makeup.
I have missed calls from my manager and trainer. They’re probably wondering if I’m still committed to giving up the belt and my career. I’m more certain than I’ve ever been.
“Sammie, I’m going to have to call my manager today. There’s a lot I have to do before I retire.”
“Oh no. That means you’re going to be gone for a long time?”
“No. I’ll do my best to do everything from here or in Dallas, including a search for our own home.”
“There aren’t that many houses available here. Do you want to move to Nashville?”
“I’ll move wherever you want. If you like it here, we’ll stay.”
“Thank you. I’d hate to leave my brother. I’ve lived my entire life without him.”
“That’s a story I want you to tell me one day. When you’re ready, of course.” I don’t want to push her. I know it’s a sensitive subject, at least that’s what I can glean from our conversations.
“There’s really not much to say. My mother was terrible at being a mom. She abandoned Joseph when I was a baby. Then she moved us from slum to slum. One boyfriend to the next. The last was a real piece of work. He got her hooked on meth, and then she abandoned me. Luckily, I was seventeen and employed, so I could fend for myself a little bit. She died six months after that while he went to jail for selling drugs and for being a part of the human trafficking scene. I don’t know the details, but he received twenty years.”
Anger builds up in my chest, fist-clenching, mind racing, and I ask, “Wow, he didn’t try to touch you, did he?” I never wanted to fuck someone up so badly.
“No, but he implied he’d like to try a younger version.”
“I could kill him.” I punch my fist, aching to rip his head off.
“It’s my past and thanks to you, I know I can get past it, so you can do the same, please.”
“Anything for you.” I will let it go because it’s what she wants, but I’ll always be there to protect her, and if that fucker ever gets out of prison, I’ll make sure he’s never near her again.
“Somehow, I doubt that you’re going to let this go.”
“I am, but I’m not going to let anyone make you scared, ever. So you let me know if any creep comes near you again. Including that fuck you work with.”
“He’s harmless,” she says, but the hint of fear in her eyes tells me otherwise. I’ll be keeping a close watch on him.
Chapter Fourteen
Sammie
“Um…Elvin? What were you doing in my office with the door locked?” I ask, barging into my office to see Elvin fixing his belt buckle. He’s never in here with the door locked. It’s not his office in the first place. My cabinets stay secured and only Boomer and I have keys, so he wasn’t digging in the personnel files.
“Nothing. Just taking a quick nap during my break,” he stammers out, but somehow I doubt it. The break room would be totally empty since the staff is light today, and one of the theaters isn’t opening for an hour.
“Are you okay?” I ask, taking in his ruddy-colored face. He was doing something in here and it wasn’t sleeping. Damn, I hate to do this, but I’m going to write him up.
“Of course I’m not okay. My…you…are dating that professional thug…” he grits out through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know what you thought, but there’s never been anything between you and me and never will be.” He narrows eyes, offended, but I determination in them.
“You could be with someone that loves you and isn’t off fucking everything that walks.”
I stammer out, stepping backward toward the door. “You don’t know anything about Danny.”
“I know he was out hitting on the girl that works at your brother’s office.”
“He has a twin,” I spat out, getting irritated with the accusations. For a moment, I forgot about my fear and felt angry that he would try to break my trust in Danny.
“And could you ever really trust him?”
“Enough. Please get out of my office and do some work,” I commanded.
“Listen, you better get a hold of that attitude, Sammie. I’m willing to wait until you come to your senses, but I’m not going to tolerate that tone.” He moves in closer, boxing me in between him and the door. Shit. I needed some lessons in fighting.
A knock at the door stops his aggression and he backs up.
“Who is it?”
“It’s your boss,” Boomer grumbles behind the heavy door.
A sigh escapes my lips before I reply, “Boomer. One second.” He’s my saving grace. I push against the door to open it, nudging Elvin in the process.
“Hey, Elvin was just leaving. Come in.” Boomer lifts a brow, looking between us.
“Oh, she’s not married yet,” Elvin says, slipping a finger into his mouth, pretending to suck something off it.
As soon as he’s out of the room, I slam the door shut. “You know he’s a dead man, right?”
“Nothing happened with him,” I exclaim my innocence, hoping he believes me.
“I know that, but if he’s bold enough to do that in front of me, I know damn well, he’s not going to stop.” Boomer’s lips tighten and his stance has gotten a little stiffer.
“Please don’t tell Danny. I don’t want him to go crazy and kill him.”
“I’m trying not to myself.” He took the seat in front of my desk, while I moved to my chair, but I couldn’t force myself to sit down. Something bothered me about Elvin sitting there.
“Oh, please don’t do anything to him. It’s not like he’s touched me or anything.” I’d hate if they got in trouble for me.
“Don’t worry. We won’t do anything to him just yet. I’ll keep Danny under control. Now do you want to tell me what happened here, so I know what’s going on?”
“When I came into work, my office door was locked, so I used my keys and then he jumped up adjusting his belt.”
“Okay. We’re not sitting in here anymore.” Boomer grabs my arm and moves us away from the desk. He’s insistent that I leave Danny because he wants me. He was just getting a little too close when you came in here.”
“He’s lucky that Danny has paparazzi lurking all the time for a story. He’s fired by the way. I won’t stand for this and if he gives me any shit, I’ll sick Beast on him. Now, let’s leave this room while I bring in a forensic team to see what he did in here.” Oh God. He thinks that Elvin probably jacked off on my stuff. Fucking gross.
***
“Come here,” Danny growls the second he comes into the house. Crystal called me to tell me that Danny was yelling, but by the time he left, he was calm. I’m not afraid that he’ll hurt me, however I’m scared he’ll be disappointed in me.
“What’s wrong, Danny?” I ask, walking up to meet him. He slides his rough hands over my cheeks, tilting my head up to look deep into his eyes.
“What’s wrong? You think that Boomer wasn’t going to tell me what that prick did?”
I stare at the love of my life, wondering how pissed he is. “Um…no. I knew he would. He told me he’d tell you. Are you mad at me?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Mad at you? For what? I want that fucker’s head on a spike. I want to see the life drain from his body. Did he touch you? Tell me the truth. I promised Boomer I’d keep my hands to myself, but I need to know if he touched you.”
“No, he didn’t. I think he might have tried if Boomer hadn’t knocked.”
“Fuck, I want to deck him, but I’m glad he didn’t put his filthy hands on you because I don’t know if I can keep my promise.” I brush my hands over his shoulders, trying to soothe the tension in them. “I need to know something else. Do you believe me when I say that I’d never betray you? I’d never do you wrong?”
“Yes, I trust you, Danny. Now we’ve spent enough time away from each other. Can we please stop talking about Elvin and enjoy tonight?” I ask with
my lips inches from his.
“With pleasure.” His mouth closes over mine. All thoughts of anyone else but us two are gone.
Chapter Fifteen
Daniel
Three days later, my retirement makes headlines in the sports section online. I’m barely turning clicking on the article to see what they have to say when my manager calls.
It’s almost six, but Sammie and I are getting ready to go out instead of staying in to worship her sexy body all night, so I’m a little grumpier than normal when I answer. “What’s up?”
“I assume you’ve seen the news.”
I hadn’t made a public announcement, but I did contact the gaming commission and like that, the word spread in a heartbeat. “Of course I have. And?”
“The media and your fans want to hear from you. I say we do a press conference in Vegas.”
“Why can’t they just leave it alone? I’m retired.” I like busting his balls. I know this has to be done, but shit if I don’t get a kick out of agitating him.
“You know damn well they want to have one last round of questions, like what you’re going to do next? Or are you settling down?”
“You know all those answers.” I told him about Sammie and what my plans were for my future. He grumbles something unintelligible on the other end, and I give in. “Fine. I’ll talk with my woman and see what days work best for us and then you’ll get it together.” She’s in the shower
“Great. I’ll call the press conference as soon as you let me know when.”
“Fine. Excuse me. I need to go.” I hang up with him because there’s nothing really to say. I know he wants me to fight so he can still make bank off me, but he also knows that I stick to my guns. If he stays in his lane, I’ll refer other fighters to him, or at least that’s what he’s counting on.
I go into the bedroom to see if Sammie’s almost ready. The bathroom door is open so, I say, “Babe, I just got off the phone with my manager.”
“And?” she asks, coming out of the bathroom with her hands up fixing her hair into a sexy bun with just enough strands framing her gorgeous face.
She walks over to the large mirror in our room and puts on some lipstick. I love the burgundy wine looking color almost as much as I enjoy ruining it. She stares at me through the reflection waiting for me to continue, so I clear my throat and come straight out with it. “They want me to do a formal press conference in Vegas next week. It’s going to be at least a two-day trip.”
She spins around and asks, “Do you want me to go with you?”
There’s a hint of concern in her eyes that is needless. “I’d love for you to be there with me. Is it possible?” Please say yes.
“Sure. I’m off for three days next week. If we can schedule the conference then, I’ll be able to make it. If not, I’ll have to move my schedule around at work. It’s not like there’s that much for me to handle. Payroll and inventory were done yesterday for the next two weeks.”
“Fantastic. The thought of leaving you here didn’t sound good to me at all.” At least that creep she had worked with had been canned. I had a long talk with Boomer and Doc about my woman’s piece of shit admirer. In our eyes he’d gone too far, but Boomer talked me out of killing him because I was too high-profile, and someone would notice.
In due time, I’ll get my payback for that little fucker. He threatened my woman, made a move on her, told her that I would cheat on her, and then fucking implied to Boomer at the very least that she betrayed me.
The one thing that scared me the most had been the idea that she could believe I’d cheat. I want her love and trust, and he tried to steal that from me. It was hard enough with her skewed perception of me at the beginning.
“How about we get married in Vegas while we’re there?” she asks, stunning me on the spot.
“What? Are you serious?” My mouth parts widely in excitement.
“Yeah, I mean, if you want to. I know it’s really soon.” I asked her to marry me already because I knew I wanted her as my wife since the day I met her.
“Sammie, I wanted to marry you months ago.” Grabbing her waist, I lift her up and swing her around. “You’ve been mine since we met. It’s only right that we make it legal where we met.”
“The same place? That would be wonderful.”
“Absolutely. I’ll have it done. I love you, Sammie. I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Okay, but we don’t have a lot of time. There’s so much to do. We have to tell your family and my brother because you know that they won’t be happy if we get married without them. I’m so happy, Danny. Can we call people on the way to dinner?”
“Sure. My parents are going to be excited about another wedding. All they need is Mike and we’ll all be married this year.”
“Well, if we don’t do it in the next few days, it’ll be in the new year.”
“A New Year’s Day wedding sounds perfect to me, Vixen.” I crush my mouth to hers, smearing her lipstick. Her hands thrust into my hair while her pussy grinds on my cock. “Keep it up and we’ll miss dinner.”
“I don’t care about food. I want you.”
“Well, I can’t say no to that.” I growl and carry her to bed to celebrate the plans.
Epilogue
Daniel
Two Years Later
I’m fucking freaking out. I read the news article and it’s unbelievable. A year after we married, Elvin married a woman who could be confused with my wife. It pissed me off because his fascination with Sammie didn’t end even after he was fired. Boomer kept the marriage from me, so I didn’t skewer the bastard. We ran into them at the grocery store one night and I itched for a fight.
Boomer’s probably kicking himself and so am I.
Texas Man Butchers Wife and Disappears.
He better keep away from Steeleville or the cops will never find him. “Daniel, Boomer just told me to stay home. What’s going on?” Sammie comes into the living room, standing in front of me with her hands on her hips like I had something to do with it.
“He’s right. I wish we’d seen this before you got ready for work.” I pass my tablet over to her so she can read it. She gasps and the tablet falls. Luckily, I catch it before it hits the ground. I toss it lightly on the sofa and then pull her into my arms. “Sammie, we won’t let him get to you or our baby.”
“Danny, what are we going to do? I may have never mentioned it, but did you see the resemblance between his wife and me?” The fear in her eyes, stiffens my resolve to find the bastard and finish this. I need to get in touch with Boomer and Doc.
“Of course. I wanted to beat him to death then. Now, I want to put my knee to his throat until he can’t take another breath.”
“I don’t want to go to work anymore.” Little tremors rack her body as she presses her head on my chest. It breaks my heart that she’s so damn scared.
I wrap my arms around her, rubbing her back until she begins to relax. “I’m not going to let him come for you. You’re supposed to be quitting soon. I say you let your replacement take over now instead of next month. I’m sure Boomer’s in agreement with me.”
“Oh goodness. My brother’s going to flip,” she says with her eyes opened wide while biting her lip. I reach up and tug it free and then bend down for a gentle kiss.
“I love you, Samantha Miller. Don’t worry about any of this. I’ll protect my family—always.”
A loud cry comes from the baby’s room just as her phone rings. Our son, Daniel the third, must be up from his nap. “Get that. I’ll check on the baby.” He wails, and I rush to his room. As soon as he sees me the toothy grin spreads across his face. “Hey, buddy, did you sleep well?”
“Momma.”
“No, I’m Daddy.” It’s the one word he won’t say. He can say Doc or Tee or Auntie, but nothing for me. I think he does it to test me. The little brat knows I want him to say it.
He smiles wider, looking like his mother when she’s up to no good. “Momma.”
“Daddy,�
�� I try to correct him as I lay him down to change his diaper.
“Momma.” He’s insistent.
“Fine. We’ll go get Momma.” We walk into the room, and she’s sitting on the chair in the living room with her hand over her mouth.
“Samantha, what’s going on? What happened?” I tried not to panic with the baby in my arms so he wouldn’t sense the tension but seeing my wife like that set me off.
“He’s dead. He went to the movie theater to look for me. They caught him on surveillance and thankfully got to him before he killed anyone else, but he shot up the front entrance. People took cover and were saved by Law and his deputies.”
“Momma cry. No cry.” Danny tries to jump out of my arms to get his mama. He’s learning really quick to be a good man. She reaches for him to hug. I wrap my arms around them both, thinking of the calls I’ll be getting very shortly. My phone vibrates on the kitchen counter where I left it last. Shit. I want to grab it, but I don’t want to leave them.
“Go get it. I’m sure people are worried and want to make sure we’re okay. Your sister’s at school, and they locked it down because of the shooting. That’s the only reason she called me.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back. Please calm down or I’ll have to call Doc.” I give her a warning, but I soften my words with a smile.
“I need some water,” she says.
“Of course. I’ll get it.”
“And something for this one…” She tips her head toward the baby. If he knows a bottle is coming, he gets impatient, and right now Sammie doesn’t need the stress. She’s four months pregnant with my little girl, so I’m doing my best to hold it together myself. A million murderous thoughts run through my mind. The fucker’s already dead, but I’d still love to do more damage to his corpse.
Picking up my phone, I swipe the screen to unlock and see ten texts from Doc and Sophia. Just as I’m about to read them, he calls me again. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“Please tell me Sammie’s home with you,” Doc demands, his voice shaking.